Rain, disruption and lunch with the family

Been a very wet few days. Was the overnight on Thursday and was staying round the corner from where the bomb was found. Funny thing is I only found out about it from the news. Still life goes on and today there was the Pride march and Wimbeldon all went on as normal. Today was great as I met up with my Parents, and Sister for lunch at Victoria. I have not seem my Sister since Christmas so it was nice to catch up. My Mother also seems to enjoy these events and it was also nice to have Fiona with me on the trip.
Just sitting with the rain pouring down outside, even Harvey seems quite happy to stay indoors.

Safe driving

Driving such a large vehicle gives you a completely different view of the road. When I drive my car I am amazed at just how little view most drivers have of the road ahead. But they still drive at inappropriate speeds. I am sitting here as the rain pours down and have found a site which has a very good article on safe driving. You can find it here .
I am just going to write an email to my local council regarding the number of road signs which are obscured by trees and hedges.

Can nobody park a car??

Work a rest day today. Extra money is good and it reminds why I want to stay on the coaches!! All city work today and I am amazed how so many people think they can park anywhere and I mean any where.
Examples today are

• ON a crossing not just the zig zags but on the black and white markings!!!
  
• On bends, so to go past means taking up the whole road.
• Where the road narrows so it is impossible to get another vehicle past.
• On 'Keep Clear' lines

It was truly an eye opener today. The thing that saved it was the passengers, nice bunch and laughed at my jokes. I have two days off now. Off the the Frome Radio Rally Sunday and then a quite day on Monday.

Bath new bus station and fly past

Well today was the day. The new Bath bus station opened. I got in early to check it out, I had the key for the door put didn't know were the door was!! It looks very good even though it is porta cabins. After a look round and a cup of tea it was off to London. Full to the rafters. Good trip up with no delays. Handed the coach over to the next driver and headed to the park with chicken and chips. Finished them just in time to watch the Falklands fly past. Very impressive, finishing off with a very low pass by the Red Arrows.
Had a read in the park and then headed back to wait for my coach to come in at 1735 and get it ready to go at 1800. 1800 came and went with no sign of the coach. Finally turned up at 1820!! I was not best pleased, the driver thought it went at 1830, he would have still been late!! Anyway loaded up and went on my way. Went via Knights bridge and arrived at Heathrow 20 mins late, not bad. Just leaving and the 1800 coach turns up!! He went via Earls Court and got stuck in traffic. After all that arrived home at 2220, and just tucking in to a plate of sausages.

It was my Birthday!!

Been off for a few days and Tuesday was my Birthday you can find how old I am from my profile. Had a nice day as my parents came down and took us out for lunch, very nice. First day back today and what a day. Started Ok but got to Maidenhead J 8/9 and hit the a queue. After sitting stationary for about 20mins rang control and they told me there had been an accident. Seems that they told all the office people but not the drivers!! As a result of that I did not have enough driving hours to get to Victoria so had to terminate at Heathrow. The passengers I had for Victoria had to be transferred to another coach. Not too bad though as I spent a couple of hours catching up on my paperwork and watching a bit of telly.
Journey back was good, bit delayed as I had to wait for the passengers to come from Victoria. In the end we made up the time and the passengers seemed very happy.
Added another to to the site. This time to BBC Radio 2. This is my sanity saver. It enables me to keep in contact with what is going on in the world and breaks the silence when I am having a break.

Speed cameras

I am not the biggest fan of speed cameras especially when they cause other drivers to break as they approach them however they are not always speed cameras as these ones can spot tax, MOT and things like unpaid fines. Found this link which explains more.

http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/units_and_departments/operations/rpu/anpr.aspx

Luggage

Been on the 'Frome up' all week and 0445 in the morning so off to bed in a minute. I am always amazed by passengers. The last few days I have a few that have cases obviously over the 20Kg limit. This is not only the limit given by airlines but is also the limit given by health and safety executive. This means if a driver lifts over 20Kg and is injured he will possibly not be able to claim compensation. So I always ASK the passenger to load the bags to save my back. Two passengers had the hump but started to lift them and the handles broke off!! I cannot imagine what excess baggage charge they would get.

Day on the buses

Had a change today and worked a rest day doing country bus work. Had a trip to Cribbs Causeway and Bristol and then a trip out to Devizes. Only problem was I did not know it was one of the only bus that went a certain route. So had to ask a passenger to show me the way!! Good fun and the passengers had a laugh as I went through a housing estate without problem. As I said you either know the way or you don't.

Tinted Windows

Always wondered what the law was on tinted windows especially when you cannot see the driver.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6707873.stm

Slight Bump

Not a bad day lots of passengers. Good trip into London Until some joker decided that as he had parked cars in his way he would try and push in. However I do not think he could have seen me as when we got to the lights he jumped out and accused me of hitting him. He was very upset and even when I said I had the right of way as the parked cars were in his lane he accused me of driving like a loony. Any way he went VERY quiet when I produced the accident reporting forms. No damage to the coach anyway and continued on to Victoria.

Not very far

Not a very good day yesterday. Only got as far as Chippenham when had a high temp alarm. had to stop. Any way as normal control had all the passengers on their way within an hour. I then spent the rest of the day watching TV in Bath!!!